Eating, Shopping, Watching, Wearing.....

On Sunday we'd arranged to meet Tony for a Wetherspoons all-dayer, postponed from last week, but managed to squeeze in a trip to the clearance charity shop first. The weather was filthy and it had been raining incessantly for hours. Too wet to pose for an outfit photo, I turned into an Instagram w*nker and created a flatlay....

I wore COS cotton waffle-weave ankle grazers (bought from the clearance chazza months ago, worn once for a bike ride and promptly forgotten); 1960s cheesecloth blouse (found on my day out with Claire); vintage Kashmiri woolwork waistcoat (which used to belong to my friend Cheryl); Reiss wool fedora & Lotta from Stockholm clogs (both eBay) and a vintage tribal pendant from Gujarat. I did get changed to go the the pub, I'll always be a dress girl at heart.

 We came home with an Italian wool & felt flower trimmed hat, a groovy M&S jumper, a 1980s C&A lurex disco jacket and a Barbour "Cairn" all-wool flat cap for the Kinky Melon stockroom.

Jon found this Victorian framed lithograph of Jules Delaroche's A Labour of Love, signed and dated '99. Judging by the mosaic floor, the Greek key woven on the curtain behind her and the Corinthian column she must be a Greek goddess, isn't she gorgeous?

I'd been looking for a tank top for a while and, at £2, this pistacchio cable knit fitted the bill perfectly.

I wore it the next day. 

Cable knit tank top worn with a vintage Treacy Lowe tissue silk maxi (found by a friend in a charity shop), orange fedora (retail buy, 2018), Toast cowboy boots (eBay), Barry M Midnight Sky nail paint

On Monday Jon and I, along with probably most of the country, were glued to the TV, watching the ongoing Tory party drama unfold with Dishy Richi eventually being declared PM (at least for this week). I abhor his politics but, on a superficial level, he's a lot easier on the eye than the flabby buffoon that is BoJo. 

As always, Cold War Steve, gets it just right. Follow him HERE

I listed a few things on eBay and messed around in the kitchen, adapting a recipe I'd found on line and making some sugar-free vegan flapjacks using a pack of posh medjool dates Tony had bought me. Jon and I had demanded presents after he bailed out of our 'Spoons pub date last week.

Vegan Date Flapjacks

Dry Ingredients

240 g rolled oats
150 g mixed dried fruit & seeds
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

150g dried pitted dates
100g peanut butter
2 tbsp olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

 

• 10 minutes before you begin, soak 150g of dates in 1/2 pint of boiling water. Preheat the oven to 180°c and line an 8" baking tin with greaseproof paper.
• Combine the oats, mixed seeds, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir well.
• Add the peanut butter, olive oil, soaked dates and half of the soaking water to a blender. Blend until the mix is smooth.
• Combine the wet mix with the dry ingredients. If the mixture is too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of oats at a time. If too dry, add a splash of extra date soaking water.
• Press the mixture evenly into the lined baking tin.
• Place the tin into the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the date flapjacks are golden brown.
• The flapjacks should still be slightly soft when they come out of the oven - they will firm up as they cool. Once you are able to handle them, remove from the baking tin and transfer to a wire rack. 
• Cut into 9 squares. Store in an airtight tin. 

Talking of food, here's Monday's tea - a Greek feast!

Along with Feta cheese, coleslaw made with Greek yoghurt, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers and the Poor Man's Capers I made last year (pickled nasturtium seed pods), I had a griddled aubergine and some Greek-style green beans (from Lidl's Greek Week promotion).

After reading about them on one of the Grecophile Facebook groups of which we're members, Jon has been stalking the freezers in Aldi for their Gyros but they're so popular and sell out immediately. Last week he got lucky and says that they're totally worth the hype. 

We spent the evening watching the series finale of Bloodlands - and after that ending it looks like there'll be another series - and catching up with more of season two of Norwegian Noir, Wisting and, what with the Diwali fireworks and a disgruntled owl in the lime tree, we'd never been more appreciative of subtitles.

Today (Tuesday) started with a swim. The baths were delightfully quiet as the schools have broken up and most of the regulars are on grandchild minding duties. With temperatures forecast to be in the mid-teens I didn't bother with a coat, opting for a partially quilted early '70s Anokhi jacket worn over the vintage cheesecloth maxi & Art Nouveau era belt, both picked up in a Walsall charity shop last year.

We had our usual 'Spoons breakfast where Lord Jon was thrilled to be reunited with his beloved FabIndia artisan-made wool scarf he'd bought in Jodhpur in January, 2020. He'd left it behind on Sunday night and thought it was gone forever but, with Walsall's Wetherspoons' clientele being the finest in the land, it had been handed in.

Obviously we had to have a mooch around the chazzas after we'd eaten - it's the law! We found a super groovy 1960s Crimplene Mod dress suit by Davisella; Clarks Originals Bank Robbers aka Desert Trek sheepskin lined boots; Jeffery West "Black Line" zip-up boots (which retail at £395); Vintage Tootal smoking jacket and a 1980s track top.

We're off to the cinema to see The Banshees of Inisherin this afternoon which, apparently, is even better than In Bruges....I'll let you know.

See you soon!